Call for Expression of Interest for mutual application under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship scheme

We hereby invite outstanding researchers of any nationality to apply for an EU-funded Marie Sklodowska Curie Action Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) to conduct research on the theme of Real-time Estimation of Brain Functional State under Safety-critical Human-machine Interactions at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University for a period of up to 2 years.

Areas of research

This research will be carried out at the OsloMet Artificial Intelligence Lab and will contribute to the Marie Curie Project “Real-time Estimation of Brain Functional State under Safety-critical Human-Machine Interactions”.

During the last decade, significant advances on methodology and tools for the investigation of human brain and behavior at work have been achieved in the emerging scientific field of neuroergonomics. The availability of ambulatory hardware, wearable sensors and intelligent data analysis methods allow for imaging of human brain dynamics in applied environments. As an important application field in question, aviation is one of the safest modes of transportation. However, human errors are still a major cause of aeronautical accidents. One way to further increase aviation safety is the adoption of neuroergonomics approaches. In the interface of cognitive engineering, neuroscience and human factors engineering, the overall aim of neuroergonomics is to monitor, analyze and predict human performance and thereby design adaptive human-system interaction by using various physiological and neuroimaging tools.

This project will develop new neuroergonomics methods, with a special emphasis on mobile sensing using mobile EEG and fNIRS measurement technologies, to better understand the brain dynamics in operators/users in naturalistic safety-critical human-machine cooperative environments. The aims of this research are:

1) to measure human operator’s brain activity during the task performance.2) to identify how particular features of the brain signals are correlated to the risky operational states of mental stress and high workload.3) to develop applied neuroergonomics approach to realize online detection of high-risk mental states using a new concept of bidirectional (e.g., augmented reality) and individualized interaction between humans and machines. The detection of such mental states was performed offline in most existing literature.

The major objectives of the research include:

1) to train postdoctoral fellows in advanced research in neuroergonomics. The candidate will explore the possibility of using multi-modal psychophysiological input features.2) to enhance human operator effectiveness in safety-critical task environments (e.g., in aviation and aerospace operations) through emerging neuroergonomics approaches.1) In terms of concrete research tasks, the candidates are expected to:2) to develop unsupervised learning algorithms and software tools to analyze unlabeled, continuous (time series) neurophysiological data.3) to propose AI/ML-based computational models for effective and robust decoding/estimation of brain states (i.e., operator/user's cognitive state) from nonstationary neurophysiological signals.4) to extract significant features from EEG signals for detecting risky brain states.5) to analyze brain activity pattern and classify different brain states using kernel learning method 6)develop neuroergonomics systems to induce and analyze affective states.7) investigate brain topological patterns under various states (e.g., mental fatigue, mental workload) using advanced EEG connectome approach.8) carry out hypothesis testing for neurophysiological interpretations and findings.9) carry out hypothesis testing for neurophysiological interpretations and findings.

We invite applicants to propose more detailed and refined research proposal within the scope of this research as a part of their application. We especially welcome applicants with solid background and experiences in machine learning and computational intelligence theory and algorithms and keen interest in their applications to the areas of neuroengineering (brain-computer interface), neuroinformatics (brain/neural signal processing and analysis), and computational neuroscience (neurophysiological experiments and advanced data analysis techniques). Successful candidates will be supervised by Prof. Jianhua Zhang, OsloMet Artificial Intelligence Lab, Department of Computer Science.

With this call for Expression of Interest, we invite talented junior researchers holding a PhD degree in computer science, electrical engineering, applied math, computational neuroscience, or other highly relevant fields to submit their CV in ERC format (including a full list of publications) and a short project proposal, which will be the basis for selecting a maximum of three outstanding candidates to collaborate with us in developing MSCA-IF proposals. In this first phase, the cooperation will be carried out by regular email and Skype communication and then by a physical meeting (if appropriate). Successful applicants will work at the main campus of OsloMet in the city center of Oslo.

Starting Date

The EU informs the results on the MSCA-IF applications in February 2020. Successful candidate(s) are expected to be available to start within the following two months and no later than summer 2020. The candidates must be assessed as in principle eligible for aMarie Curie Individual Fellowship.

Main duties of the position

The successful candidate will focus on the Marie Curie funded project (development and performance testing of cutting-edge ML and AI algorithms and software for the targeted applications), but will be integrated at the OsloMet AI Lab and the department by taking part in regular meetings and discussions.

The right candidate will join the OsloMet AI Lab to develop advanced data-driven modeling, prediction/forecasting, and optimization algorithms with applications to online monitoring of brain functional state. He/she will work primarily on the funded project under the supervision of Prof Jianhua Zhang and in close collaboration with other colleagues in the Lab. If agreed with the candidate, he/she may also be included in other ongoing projects or in developing other grant proposals.

Research Experience:

Excellent, independent scientific research capabilities;

The first author of several good scientific journal publications.

Language skills: Fluent in both spoken and written English

We are looking for applicants who have

An excellent track record in research, necessary for being able to develop a competitive Marie Curie Fellowship application

An open and cooperation oriented nature, but with strong abilities for independent academic work

It is important for OsloMet to reflect the population of our region, and all qualified candidates are welcome to apply. We make active efforts to further develop as an inclusive workplace and to adapt the workplace if required.

Evaluation Committee

Interested candidates should upload their resume (incl. Track Record) and a one-page note describing the project for which a Marie Curie grant will be applied.

Originals must be presented if you are invited for an interview. OsloMet performs document inspections in order to give you as a candidate a proper evaluation and ensure fair competition. Proposals will be pre-selected based on internal evaluation and the availability of suitable supervision. A maximum of six candidates will be invited for a skype interview, and a maximum of three candidates will be invited to submit a proposal to the EU funded MSCA-IF programme. Candidates will be informed of the results of the pre-selection shortly after the application deadline.

Selected candidates will be invited to meet the supervisor and visit the research environment at OsloMet to further develop the proposal organised by OsloMet in May 2019.

The candidate(s) selected to proceed with a full Marie Curie Application will be supported by the OsloMet EU team and the leader of the research group. Deadline for submission of Application is September 11th, 2019.

Originals must be presented if you are invited for an interview. OsloMet performs document inspections in order to give you as a candidate a proper evaluation and ensure fair competition.